


Sun, Sand, Surf, Sea, Slaughter

by b99xperaltiago



Series: Life or Death [1]
Category: Brooklyn Nine-Nine (TV)
Genre: (maybe), I don't know, Light Angst, Matter of Life and Death, Multi, Original Character(s), Really random, Suspense, Undercover Missions, risky mission
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-10-14
Updated: 2018-10-27
Packaged: 2019-08-02 03:50:47
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 6
Words: 9,501
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16297613
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/b99xperaltiago/pseuds/b99xperaltiago
Summary: Jake and Charles go undercover to catch a serial killer who kills his victims during a surfing session at the new surf school not that far from the precinct. The case has been tossed from precinct to precinct, only because the instructor can spot an undercover cop in action.If one detail of their undercover life slips up, it could cost them their life.





	1. So, How Does it Stand?

**Author's Note:**

> Okay, is it bad that I had this idea while surfing myself? 
> 
> This is a really random idea I've had spinning in my head a few months now. I decided to write up the first chapter, so here we go.

Holt looked to his side to see two of his detective’s waiting, somewhat, patiently to take the briefing into their own hands. There was no way it was worse than when Amy was very clearly stressing about her dad coming to Thanksgiving one year though. “Sorry, Peralta, Boyle, the floor is yours.” He gathered his things and moved to the side.

Both Jake and Charles moved across and stood at the podium, looking out to the squad of detectives and uniformed officers. “Okay, so the mission on Torres falls out tomorrow,” Boyle began, gaining the attention of some of the officers who very clearly wanted to get back to work.

Jake continued with emphasis. “I’ll be going undercover as Sting Price, a guy who grew up with a father who drank and a mother who was addicted to gambling. He spent his weekends with his grandparents, that was until they both died tragically in a subway accident. He moved in with his now ex-girlfriend before moving in with his best friend from childhood in Red Hook when they broke up.”

“And I will be Chris Cox, I have loved surfing since I was a young boy, spending all summer by the sea. My parents split up and I moved with my dad to New York during my teen years. I haven’t surfed since, until now.”

“Amy and Rosa will be on the shore, feeding information to us through waterproof earpieces and writing extra info needed on a computer which Diaz is supplying,” Jake told the briefing room full of people.

“You need to make it look like you two are doing something which _isn’t_ cop work. Any suspicious tones or phrases may alert him; it could blow this entire operation and put one of our lives at risk.”

"This is a crazy op, Jake," Gina sighed, giving her friend a look. "Surfing in New York water... in April." 

Holt cut in before any more was said. “You do understand that this is a very risky operation, detectives, don’t you? Treat it with respect,” Jake and Charles nodded. In the same monotone, robotic way, he added a little more. “Torres has killed more undercover cops than civilians, he can very clearly spot them.”

“We completely understand, captain.” Boyle smiled slightly.

“Sir, I promise, you don’t need to worry about us. We’ll be fine.” Jake reassured.

“Okay,” he looked from the two detective’s gaze to the briefing room. “Dismissed.”

As Jake was walking out, Holt caught up to him. “Peralta,” the captain caught the detective’s attention, making him turn around. “Please tell me you won’t try to make this into one of those ‘Die Easy’ movies, will you?”

Jake raised his finger. “You know it’s Die Hard.” He had to correct. “And no, this is a serious case, so it has my uttermost seriousness.” Holt nodded, releasing a small smile.

“Okay, I’m glad to see you are acting like an adult with this.”

“And I can actually tell this time.” Jake grinned.

Holt slightly rolled his eyes, walking past the detective and back toward his office. 

* * *

 

“Okay, you two ready?” Rosa asked from the back of the van.

Jake nodded as Charles gave a weak smile.

“Great, let’s do this.” Diaz kept it short, jumping out from the van, and having to waiting outside for Amy.

Amy shifted ahead and grabbed Jake’s attention. “Good luck, I love you.” She smiled.

She pressed her lips against his for a moment, not wanting to part. If she didn’t, Jake wouldn’t have to leave for this mission. But she also knew in the back of her mind that Jake would part otherwise. And that incredibly quietly, although being nervous about the operation himself, Boyle was fangirling in the seat next to them. She pulled apart but continued to look him in the eyes.

“I love you too.” Jake weakly smiled at her.

Amy jumped out of the van, walking off to the beach ramp with Rosa, leaving Charles and Jake alone.

"That was adorable," Charles grinned at his friend.

Not wanting to hear anything else from his friend, Jake grabbed the bag by his feet and opened the passenger side door next to him with a swing, quickly stepping out after. Before closing the door and walking toward the surf school, he looked back in the van at Charles. "Wait in here a couple minutes, as not to raise suspicion."

Charles nodded. "Sure thing, bud."

Jake slammed the door shut and took the steps across the road and to the surf school building. He walked through to the reception and was blown away by the space heater on the top of the desk. Maybe Gina was right, was it a tad bit crazy to be entering the Atlantic Ocean in April? Shaking his head, he ran the bell at the desk, bringing in a worker.

"Hi," the woman smiled at him. She looked young, not being any later than her late 20's, her hair was a light blonde, hanging behind her head in a high ponytail. She wore a big, baggy red hoodie with the surf school's logo on the top left corner. That must have been a clue to the temperature. "Can I help you?"

"Hi, yeah, I've got a session booked."

"What's the name?" She asked, beginning to look through her files.

"Uh, Price. Sting Price." Jake hesitated.

She raised her eyebrows before finding the right file. "Never heard the name Sting before." She gave out a small smile.

"My parents weren't the best people." Jake sighed. It was only partly true - his own father not being around a bunch when he was a child himself.

"Well, it's in the past now," she told him. "And for your session, it begins in half an hour and you are with Matthew Torres; be on the outside deck in your wetsuit ready for the session. Changing rooms are just there." She pointed to an extension just outside the building.

"Okay, thanks," Jake turned to see Charles standing behind him.

As he walked out, he gave Charles a small smile before stepping back outside and on to the deck, being shot by a fierce gust of wind. After the breeze had passed, Jake sighed. "Surfing in April... who's messed up idea was this?" He whispered to himself as he began walking toward the changing room.

He waited inside and within a few moments, Charles came in to.

Because no one else was inside the hut, they didn’t stop themselves from talking to each other.

“So, we’re really doing this, huh?” Jake wondered, digging around his bag.

Charles nodded. “Yeah… we have to, don’t we? Get a crazy serial killer off the streets.” He mentioned.

“You’re right. This guy has killed thirteen people, eight of them being undercover cops.” Jake sighed. “But I’m a little nervous, you know? This guy is very clearly great at spotting undercover cops.”

Charles cut him off before any more was said. “Jake, I’m going to stop you right here. Now I know comforting you and stopping you from spiralling is Amy’s job,” Jake scrunched his face up, nervous on what his friend could say next. “But you need to calm down, we’re going to be fine.”

Jake nodded. “Why isn’t this you freaking out?” He asked his friend. “You always find a reason to freak out.”

“I don’t know, Jake-y. Is something on your mind?” Jake swore he could see Charles wink.

Jake shook his head. “No, just worried about Amy, what if something happens on the mission?”

Charles shrugged. “I don’t know, bud, but trust me. We’ll be fine.”


	2. I Was Told the World Would Kill Me

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks to everyone who left comments and kudos on the previous chapter, it made my day a bunch! :)

Charles and Jake sat next to each other, waiting for the instructor to come around and collect them. There were a few other people with them: An obvious family, mother, father and two sons, one very much older than the second. An older man was seated on the other side of Charles with a teenage girl sat next to him. Finally, there was a middle-aged woman on the other side of the deck, looking at the wooden surfboard that was hung on the wall.

Matthew came around the corner, a huge smile present on his face. He clapped his hands together. “Okay,” he scanned his eyes around the group as if he was making a mental note on everyone there, “how is everyone today?”

Nobody answered. Charles took the silence and smiled. “I’m great!” He put on a huge, forced looking smile.

Matthew glared at him. He nodded. “Great.” A wide smile appeared ear-to-ear on his face.

Jake glanced over at his friend. Even though the smile was a fake, it was gone in the matter of seconds. Like a click of a finger, the smile became a worried frown.

“Can everyone follow me?” Torres asked, turning to his side, looking like he would walk away.

Everyone began following him, Charles and Jake waiting to go at the back.

As quietly as possible, as not to heard by Matthew, Jake turned to Charles. “Why did you answer?” He whispered.

“The silence didn’t feel right.” Charles sighed, whispering into Jake much closer than Jake would have wanted. “The smile was creepy, wasn’t it?”

“It sent a shiver down my spine, Charles,” Jake mentioned. “shiver down my spine.” He repeated for emphasis.

* * *

Amy looked over at Rosa, who was digging through her bag in search of the laptop she was demanded to bring. “Why didn’t your husband supply the computer?” She slightly turned her head to Amy.

“Technically, it would be classed as a laptop because a computer is plugged into a wall,” she caught Rosa’s angry gaze. “And he doesn’t have one.” She answered quietly.

Rosa sat in silence for a minute, wondering whether to question it. Eventually, she looked over at her friend. “Why?”

Amy looked at Rosa, shocked. Did Rosa really just ask a question to keep the conversation going? She stammered for a moment. “Ur… he lost it… in a way.” Amy saw Rosa wasn’t really buying the response. “He kind of got a little angry when he saw an email from his dad and he may have accidentally thrown it to the ground.” She managed to lie. Rosa nodded.

Wow, maybe Jake’s relationship with his dad would really cause him to do that. Though the truth wasn’t far from lie, it was a little more complicated, and there was several more details Amy would prefer to miss out.

“So, how’s things hanging?” Rosa looked over at Amy, starting up another conversation.

“Okay, now you’re creeping me out.” Amy blurted, looking concerned at her.

“Jake told us to act like we’re friends.”

“We are friends.”

“Exactly.”

Somehow, Rosa smiled a little after saying that, making Amy look the other side.

Slowly, Amy turned her attention back to Rosa, asking her a question to change the subject on to something else. “So, how is Alesha?” Her tone came out weird.

Rosa nodded, looking out into the ocean. “Good. How’s Jake?”

Amy slightly hesitated. She nodded. “He’s good, though he’s about to go into a life or death mission.”

“Yeah, those things are a nightmare.” Rosa gave out a small laugh, it coming across slightly creepy.

“I prefer quiet and intimidating Rosa,” Amy mentioned, without thinking much.

A second passed before Rosa added something, “Yeah, me too.”

It became quiet. A few beats later, Rosa glimpsed over to the ramp that her and Amy had walked over twenty minutes ago. “There they are,” she pointed them out, helping Amy because of the likelihood she’d miss them.

* * *

Reaching over the ramp, a gust of wind swerved through the group, catching a few off balance. The smell of vinegar from the fish and chips cart next to them was strong enough to burn your eyes out, but sweet enough to make your mouth water. There was the deafening but yet calming sound of the waves crashing against the pile of rocks, the sound echoing down the beach. The golden sand would shimmer on the odd chance the sun would peak through the overcast clouds above.

Charles came up to Jake at the back of the group. He sniffed around the air. “You smell that, Jake-y?”

Jake slightly nodded. “Yes, Charles, it’s very strong and is enough to burn your eyes.”

“Yes, there is a danger of that happening,” Jake looked at his friend wide-eyed as they continued to walk on to the beach, toward a giant pile of stacked up surfboards on the shore. “But you have to come here for that scent. Pure treat that would be.”

“Well, if you don’t blow our cover and we both live, we’ll try some, shall we?” His tone made him sound way more harsh than he intended.

Charles looked up at his friend with worry. “That kinda spoils it, Jake.”

The group came to halt. Quietly and subtly, Jake leaned in and whispered to Charles, “It’s Sting, don’t forget that.”

Charles nodded. “Right, right, sorry, Sting.”

A small smile spread on Jake’s face. “That’s fine, _Chris_.” He referred to Charles with his undercover name.

In the corner of both their eyes, they saw Matthew give them a glance with curiosity. Leaving his help with another member of the group, he approached both Charles and Jake. “So, have you two done this before?” He eyed both of them up individually.

“No, never,” Jake replied, shaking his head.

“Ages ago… when I was a kid.” Charles answered, moving his head side-to-side slightly.

Matthew nodded, laughing around a little. “Well, I’m here to help.” He leaned in quite close. “Just between me and you, I prefer beginners, easier to teach, and funny to watch. Love surfing with my heart, and it’s a great feeling to know that I’ve helped someone else learn how to too.” He smiled before becoming serious. “But the people I hate the most are undercover cops.” He pierced a look at both Jake and Charles. “I loathe them.” He gritted through his teeth. “But its not like you two are undercover cops, right?” He laughed out loud again.

Attempting to hold cover, Jake and Charles burst out laughing.

“Ha-ha! Me? An undercover cop? Wouldn’t think so,” Jake spoke through his forced laughter.

“Never would dream of it.” Charles giggled.

“Cops are the worst,” Jake leaned in closer, attempting to whisper in. “Stop you doing drugs, you hear me?”

Matthew laughed, pointing at Jake. “Yeah, I hear you.” He stopped.

A beat passed before he spoke out again. “Cops just make me want to pull out a plank of wood and just smash them till their brains pop out, you know.” Jake and Charles tried their hardest not to look disgusted. Jake gulped and slowly nodded. “Well, better get back off to the group.” He announced before taking off in the other direction.

Staying behind, Jake whispered into Charles. “Okay, we’re screwed."


	3. Why Isn't it Mini Golf?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> What Jake does to try to get to his feet, is how I've learned it. I don't know about any other ways.

“Hitchcock!” Gina yelled across the bullpen, standing up from her chair, dropping her phone down on her desk screen-first. “Can you stop trying to friend me? Please!” She put on a begging tone of voice.

Unfortunately, Terry had taught both Hitchcock and Scully how to use social media, in case it was needed for a case, not that they were solving any anyway.

“But Gina-“ He tried to reason, being cut off by the angry civilian.

“Don’t even finish that sentence, I will force thumbtacks down your throat!” She threatened.

“Gina, you can’t make that sort of threat.” Terry stood up and looked over at the captain’s assistant.

“Why? I’m not a cop, and you are the reason why, Terr-bear.” Even through her angry tone, she still managed to call him a sweet nickname.

“I’m aware, but you’re in a police precinct, Gina. The _rest_ of us are cops.”

Gina sat back down in her chair, mumbling slightly under her breath. The bullpen went quiet. Terry slowly returned back on his chair too, keeping one eye on both Hitchcock and Gina at the same time.

Cutting it short, Hitchcock looked over at the sergeant. “Hey, Sarge, is there any way I can get Gina to accept my friend request?”

Terry jumped up, yelling at the old detective for bringing up the conversation again, while Gina pounced up from her chair, grabbing the pot of thumbtacks with one hand. Hitchcock looked down and Gina began walking over, Terry grabbing her and pulling her to the side just in time. He led Gina through to the briefing room and grasped the pot of thumbtacks out from her hand. He slammed the briefing room door shut, making sure it wasn’t too much to make it break.

“Okay, Gina, you do know that was such a Rosa thing to do right? What’s gotten into you?” Terry slightly raised his voice.

Gina looked own at the floor, staying silent.

Terry slowly put the pot on the nearest table. “Gina… are you okay?” His tone became more worried, him obviously being concerned about his friend.

Again, she didn’t answer. She kept her gaze pressed against the hard tile floor of the precinct.

“Would you like a Terry hug?” He opened his arms.

Gina subtly nodded, falling into his muscular frame. He wrapped his arms around her, resting his chin against the top of her head, given that Gina was so much smaller than Terry.

“Do you want to talk about it?” Terry asked quietly.

“It’s a stupid reason, you’d make fun of me.”

This was a first. In all the years Terry had known Gina, he’d never seen her like this. She was acting differently. She seemed vulnerable, or scared.

He slightly pushed her away. “I promise I won’t. Terry would never make fun of a friend when their upset.” He vowed.

She slightly smiled, taking a step back from Terry, falling out from the hug. “I’m worried about Jake, like loads.” She sighed.

Terry gleamed out with a bright smile. “So am I… I’m terrified for him.”

“I keep telling myself he’ll be fine, but my heart is telling me something will go wrong. He’s a great cop, he’s my best friend, but he’s Jake as well.”

Terry sighed deeply. “I know Gina, but I’m telling you, Jake will be fine.”

Gina smiled. “Thanks, Terry, it helped.”

“It’s what Terry does.” He gloated with glee, pointing his thumbs at himself.

Gina subtly rolled her eyes, walking back into the bullpen. Terry watched her walk away, the smug smile written off from his face.

“Hey! I’ve got three kids! I saw that eye roll!” He followed after her.

* * *

_Amy walked through into the bedroom to find Jake already tucked up in bed, playing a game on his phone. She approached the side and climbed on, placing her own phone on the bedside table on her side of the bed._

_“_ _Okay, so I managed to talk the guy into letting us try the new waterproof earpieces for the Torres mission.” She started up the conversation, gaining Jake attention._

_“_ _Why do we need waterproof ear pieces?” He questioned, raising his eyebrows._

_"Jake, you’re going into the ocean, you’re going to need them.” She laughed a little at the end of her comment._

_“Yeah,_ but _we’re only going in chest-depth. We won’t need them.”_

_A_ _my slightly glared at her husband, biting the inside of her cheeks to not break out in a smile at his adorable concerned look. She took a deep breath in before exhaling. “Never mind.” She decided not to press up against the subject._

_She looked to the other side of the room, catching a glance of his laptop sitting on the desk in the corner. “Did you hear from the guy about when you’ll get that laptop fixed?”_ _S_ _he started up a second conversation before Jake could question about the first one again._

_He nodded. “Yeah, but he said he wouldn’t be able to fix it, and that it would be easier to just replace it.”_

_Amy laughed a little. “Why did you throw it anyway?”_

_J_ _ake looked down at his phone. “I’d much rather not talk about it.”_

_Amy raised her husband a questioning look. “I know you better than that, Jake.” She let out a small smile._

_He huffed. “I’ve had a long day; can we drop this.” His comment came out like a demand more like a question._

_She nodded, and he laid down, his head pressed into his pillow with enough force he could slightly feel the mattress. He switched off his bedside lamp, placing his phone on the table below. Amy gently laid down next to him. She slightly squeezed her arm under his, so her palm bent up, resting over his heart. She buried her head in the crook of his neck._

_“Goodnight, Jake, I love you.” She quietly whispered in his ear._

_He smiled, feeling her warm breath against his skin. “Goodnight, Ames, I love you too.”_

_He laid still for a minute, looking over at the laptop in the corner of the room. He squinted his eyes at it slightly, a small creepy feeling about the laptop watching him creeping up his spine. He reached over and switched on the light, sitting up in bed. Amy sat up too, slightly smiling._

_"Okay, I’m getting creepy looks from my laptop and I felt something on my back.” Jake sighed, glaring at the piece of technology on the other side of the room._

_“Yeah, that was me.” Amy owned up, raising a single finger. She smiled at him. “Sorry.”_

* * *

Amy giggled slightly, looking out into the ocean. Having been out there only ten minutes, and she had already lost all her fingers on the number of times Jake had fallen off.

“Getting on good there, Jake?” She spoke through the ear piece.

Even from a far distance, she could tell he was subtly glaring at her.

_“It’s not fair, Charles hasn’t fallen in once yet,”_ Jake mumbled through.

“Charles hasn’t caught one yet.” Rosa perked in. Even she was finding the numerous failed attempts at standing on the board funny.

Jake approached back over to the group, dragging the board behind him.

Much to his surprise, the water wasn’t too cold. A bit chilly when first submerged in, which made the first fall the most awakening for him, but now he had gotten used to it, and had fallen in too many times to keep count.

“How are you doing there, Sting?” Matthew walked over to him.

“I’m getting there, still struggling though.”

“I can see that. How many times is that now?” He let out a small, yet creepy-looking smile.

Jake shrugged, not bothering to answer.

“How about I help you catch one?” He grabbed the board from Jake’s hands. He lined it up, the nose pointing in toward the shore. He patted the deck. “Hop on.” He kept his gaze on the fast approaching wave.

Jake took a moment before lying down on his stomach on the board. 

Matthew looked him in the eyes. “Remember what I said, bring your head up, look straight ahead.” He pushed the board back a little, before lunging it forward when the wave hit the tail.

Jake quickly lifted his chest up, as Torres had told him. He brought his knees forward, raising to his fingertips. As he began to bring his foot through, he noticed it had been tangled up with the leash that always kept the board close to them. He attempted to untangle his ankle, and without noticing, he had somehow turned the board and it quickly stopped as it crashed into Charles. Jake quickly stood up, his ankle finally free from the leash. “Oh, my god, I’m so sorry, are you okay?” Jake quickly grabbed Charles’ hand, helping him up from under his board.

Charles nodded. “Yeah, sorry I didn’t move out the way.”

“Bud, that’s completely my fault, I didn’t know the board could do that.”

_“You were doing great, Jake, what the hell happened?”_ They heard Amy’s voice come through the ear piece.

“My foot got stuck,” Jake angrily lifted the leash from under the water. “Got tangled in this piece of shit thing.”

Charles let out a small laugh, while playing around with his wrist.

“Oh, god, did you hurt your arm?” Jake quickly questioned his friend.

“It’s fine, Jake, I swear, you didn’t hurt yourself there, did you?”

Jake shook his head, being cut short from saying anything by Matthew behind him.

“Wow, that was bad, are both of you okay?”

They both nodded, choosing not to say anything at that moment.

“Never seen anything like that before. Chris, look where your walking, and Sting, or should I call you Jake?”

Jake quickly gulped. “What? Why–Why would you call me that?”

Matthew leaned forward. “Chris called you Jake.” He mentioned raising his eyebrows.

Jake let out a small grin, pointing over at Charles. “I sometimes let people call myself that. Truth be told, never really liked the name Sting, so my friends call me Jake.”

“You told me that you two never met.” Matthew raised his eyebrows.

Jake gave out a cheeky laugh. “That’s a running joke we have!”

Matthew gave them both a questioning look. He slowly nodded. “Okay,” he gave a genuine smile. “But I was serious, best thing I’ve seen all day.” He cackled.

Jake and Charles joined in, forcing the bursts of laughter.

He leaned in closer to them both. “I’m on to you two… you’re giving me creepy glances, I’m gonna start to think you guys are cops… tread carefully on your next move boys. I’ll get ya.” Matthew quickly turned around.

Jake turned to Charles, looking away from Torres as he walked away. “Okay, I know it sounds pretty bad right now, but we’re gonna be fine, I promise.”

Charles sighed. “Don’t you understand? Didn’t you hear him? He’s got us Jake, fair and square."

“Us giving him creepy glances? That’s the funniest thing I’ve heard all day.” Jake laughed, changing the subject slightly.

Charles glared at him. “This is bad, Jake, really really bad.”

Jake placed his hands out in front. “Calm down, buddy, we’ve got this. Right, Ames.”

_“Huh, Jake did you say something? I can’t hear you very well. Rosa’s basically dying next to me.”_

“How? Is she okay?” Charles became suddenly more concerned about the fellow detective.

_“Yeah, she’s fine… she found your crash pretty funny.”_

“Okay, we should get back to the surfing,” Jake mentioned, switching off the connection.

As they walked back over to the group, Jake looked at Charles, a question burning in his mind. “Rosa was laughing?” He sounded shocked. “Like hysterics laughter?”

“I guess so… I mean, it seems that was what Amy was on about.”

Jake looked forward, huffing under his breath. “These are truly weird days.”


	4. Don't Believe This False Hope

“Rosa, calm yourself down!” Amy instructed her friend, making the other detective sit back down on her chair.

“What’s going on?” Her facial expression returned to her normal, statue-like one.

“I think they’ve blown this operation, the guy seems to know they’re cops.” Amy sighed. She took a deep breath in, subtly moving her gaze back to the water, where she saw Jake attempting to catch another wave. “I think we have to contact Holt about it.”

Rosa nodded. “If you think that’s the best thing to do.”

Amy reached for her phone, giving Rosa a weird look. “What has gotten into you?” She quietly asked, calling the contact on her phone for Holt.

[ _Back at the Precinct]:_

“Captain Holt’s phone, Gina Linetti speaking,” Gina spoke through the phone on her desk.

_“Oh, hey Gina, where’s Holt?”_ Amy’s voice came through.

“He’s in a meeting, he’ll be back in-” she stopped for a brief second to check the time on her phone “-no idea. Soon… I hope. Can I take a message?”

_“Ur… actually, I’ll wait until he comes back. Just let him know that I called, and I need to speak to him.”_ Gina sighed before hanging up the phone.

Amy stared blankly at the dark phone screen. Rosa questionably glanced in Amy’s direction. “You okay there? Something on the phone super interesting?” She wondered.

“Yeah, Holt’s not there, so try again in a little bit,” Rosa nodded while Amy continued. “And Gina was being helpful.”

“Gina? That’s odd.” Rosa looked over at the group in the water.

Amy glared at her friend, her eyebrows raised. “Gina’s the one acting weird?” Amy asked, her voice sounding both confused and shocked.

Rosa quickly nodded her head once. “Yes."

* * *

_"Hey, Charles, how are things there?”_   Rosa wondered, asking through the bug.

Charles subtly nodded. “Good, although Matthew seems to know Jake and I are cops.”

_“Yeah, we’ve tried contacting Holt, but he’s in a meeting.”_ Amy cut through to the connection.

“Ames are you crazy?” Jake asked, keeping his voice quiet to not be overheard by the instructor. “You can’t tell Holt about it. He’ll make us quit the operation.”

_“I’m sorry Jake, but this is serious, and you could have literally killed the pair of you by letting him know you’re cops.”_

“He can’t pass this case to another precinct. Charles and I have got this, we could be putting a different cop’s life a risk by transferring it. It’s safer if we keep it.”

_“Peralta, your wife has a point; Holt deserves to know what’s going on.”_

Jake sighed. “Well, I forbid you from giving the information up to Holt.” His tone of voice was stern and authoritative.  

“Jake, what are you doing?” Charles’s voice went a little high pitched as he gave his friend a look of both worry and confusion.

“Holt doesn’t need to know. He’ll only take us off this case. We’re fine as we are, we don’t need it to be transferred.”

_“Jake I hope you understand how risky this is now. It was beforehand, but both of you have made this a lot worse by basically giving the guy the information on you being cops,”_ Amy told her husband through the waterproof earpiece. _“It is my duty to inform the captain on how this case stands, you can’t tell me what I can and can’t do, Jake.”_

“Fine, do what you must,” he caved. “I’m just letting you know now, this is most likely going to backfire very badly, and don’t be surprised I will be saying, “I told you so” when it does,” Jake spoke before cutting off the connection.

Jake stood in silence next to his best friend. Charles looked awkwardly at the deck of his board and then back up at Jake. He quickly broke it, making sure the tension didn’t become too bad for them both. “Jake-y, are you sure you don’t want Amy to get Holt involved. He’ll help us out and we’ll be able to close this case.”

Jake huffed. “Yeah, like that’s gonna happen, we’ll both be dead before it does.”

Charles watched as Jake struggled to storm away by striding through the water. He wasn’t surprised though, it was harder to walk through the water when you were angry and trying to get away.

On the shore, Amy looked down at Rosa’s computer with a blank expression. She handed it over to Diaz next to her. As she stood up from the sand, Rosa looked up at her friend. “What are you doing?”

Amy took her phone from the blanket and stood up straight again. “Keep an eye on them, I’ll be back soon.”

Amy quickly took off for the ramp to leave the beach, leaving Rosa sat in confusion.

* * *

_“Okay, thank you, sergeant.”_ Holt’s monotone voice came through the phone.

“You’re welcome, Captain.”

_“Are you okay, Santiago?”_ Holt questioned.

Since Jake and Amy had gotten married, Amy had insisted on everyone calling her by her maiden name, Santiago, to avoid confusion in the workplace. For instance, if Jake had done something he wasn’t supposed to, which happened more often than both of them were happy to admit, Jake would know it was him being called to the office to be scowled, and not his wife. Holt didn’t particularly like calling her that, given that legally her name was now Amy Peralta, but he did it anyway to obey to her choices.

Amy sniffed, making sure she didn’t start to cry whilst on the phone to her superior officer. “Yes, Captain, I’m fine.” She nodded as she spoke through a sigh she had been holding in.

_“Okay,”_ Holt sounded a tad bit hesitant, but he continued anyway. _“Well, please keep me updated if anything changes.”_

“Yes, sir.”

There was a silence for a brief moment before the sound of static hit Amy’s speaker through her phone. She sighed as she felt her heart ache. It physically hurt her to go against Jake, but she knew she had to inform Holt about the case. She knew it was the right thing to do. She hoped to god it was the right thing to do. Was it?

She slouched forward, looking at the concrete floor he feet were resting on top of as she sat on the half-brick wall outside the toilet building. She didn’t go inside, the stench from where she was from both female and male toilets was enough to make anyone gag, she didn’t want to, nor dared to, know what it could have been like inside a stall. She looked up, taking in the view from the top of the ramp. She could still slightly see the group, and she swore she could see Charles struggling to catch a wave and Jake stubbornly sitting on his board, refusing to take part, but she couldn’t be too sure.

She smiled slightly as she saw a happy toddler run passed her view, jumping around with pride all the while being cautious not to drop the ice-cream they were very clearly excited to have. She looked down at the floor, the smile still present on the face. It disappeared quickly once her phone, which was set next to her on the wall, pinged. She glared down at the SMS notification from Rosa. She read it and sighed. Some of it was missing, just perfect. Her curiosity took over her angry grudge as she slides the alert to the side, opening up her text chain with the detective.

_**From: Rosa Diaz**  
**13:18 pm** _

_**Charles is acting weird with the bug interaction and I can’t get hold of Jake. What do I do?** _

Amy sighed as she slowly typed a response.

_**To: Rosa Diaz  
****13:18 pm** _

_**J** _ _**ake won’t answer and he’ll refuse to for a while. Let him stew in his own words for a bit, he’ll eventually come around. As for Charles, why don’t you ask him what’s going on with him? Maybe he might tell you, Diaz.** _

She waited for a moment after she pressed send. Rosa was a fast typer, so if she had done what Amy had told her, she would be quick to respond. More time passed, and nothing came through, so she put her phone away in her pocket.

She looked around her surroundings, taking it all in. She had never actually been to this part of Brooklyn before, and she didn’t intend to in the future, so maybe this was a one-time thing. Maybe she and Jake could come here again in the summer at some point in the future? It’s not that far of a drive, a factor she was surprised by when she found it out upon arriving here an hour or so ago.

Maybe they’d be bringing a child next time? They had been married two years now, and they agreed a few months ago that they wanted kids at some point, but they were letting the universe decide when and if they were ready for the extra responsibility. Oh, boy was Charles not happy when he found that out.

Before her mind could travel any further, she was brought back to reality by the sound of her phone ringing with an alert in her pocket. She took it out slowly, knowing there was a high chance it was from Rosa. She looked at the message, having swiped it open from her lock screen without reading what it said or who it was from. Unsurprisingly, it was from Rosa.

Her heart stopped as she read the message over and over again.

_**From: Rosa Diaz  
13:23 pm** _

_**You need to get back here now from wherever you’ve gone! Charles can’t see Jake anywhere! He’s just vanished!** _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay, I'm going to sleep! XD It's like 11 pm where I live, just watched Die Hard 5 (totally recommend it, I know why Jake is obsessed with it!) And I'm exhausted. Good Night.
> 
> (also, don't kill me) :)


	5. Not Much Has Changed But They Live Underwater

Not even ten seconds later, a second message pinged through, grasping Amy’s full attention on it.

_**From: Rosa Diaz** _   
_**13:23 pm** _

_**I’m not kidding Santiago, being 100% honest. GET BACK HERE NOW!** _

She quickly leaped up from the brick wall and fumbled as she hurriedly typed a response telling the detective that she was on her way there at the very moment whilst running back down the ramp on to the beach.

Her feet hit the damp sand and like chasing after a perp, she quickly legged it down the beach. She came to a halt when she reached Rosa, who was trying her utter hardest not to scream down the ear piece to Charles on the other end.

“Just go up to him, and ask!” She held in her volume, but made it clear to him that she was now angry at his constant arguments.

“I’m here,” Amy whispered, too out of breath to raise her voice to her normal volume. “What’s going on? Where’s Jake?”

“Not to be annoying,” Rosa looked up at the sergeant. “But we don’t know.”

“What do you mean you don’t know? I asked you to keep an eye on both of them, Rosa! How can you not know where he’s gone?” Amy placed her hands on her hips, making the detective stand to her feet.

“I’m sorry Amy, but I’ve only got one pair of eyes and I’m not Houdini, I can’t look at one of them with one eye each!” Rosa leaned forward, raising her voice a little, as not to attract too much attention. “This might not have happened if you hadn’t of vanished off somewhere, leaving me to keep a lookout for another detective and _your_ husband!”

“Hey! Jake may be quirky in his own way, but he’s not just my husband, okay? He’s your friend, and Charles’ best friend, along with everyone else in the precinct. He’s also a detective on this case, and the best one in the NYPD, so think about that the next time you think of even calling him something he isn’t.”

“But he _is_ your husband.”

Amy stopped, Rosa’s comment making her think. She slowly nodded. “Okay, you caught me out there, nicely done.” She looked out to the water. “What are they doing?” She asked, quickly changing the subject upon seeing the group being ushered out of the water.

Rosa quickly sat down by her laptop. “Charles, what’s going on?”

Charles’s voice sounded filled with worry. _“He’s making us get out of the water. I confronted him and he claims to have no idea what’s happened.”_

“And let me guess, he’s threatened you because he is now a hundred percent sure you and Jake are cops?” Rosa wondered.

_“Uh-huh,”_ Charles confirmed.

“What’s going on with Jake? Do you know if he’s okay?” Amy stopped her pacing and yelled through, towering over Rosa.

Charles was silent on the other end and Amy felt her heart begin to race.

“Charles?” Amy called through his name, just to make sure he could actually hear her. After he didn’t respond, she yelled through his name again, this time a lot louder, her gaining a few confused looks from a small family walking past. Before she could give the family a sneered look or rude comment, her attention was brought to the lifeguard SUV speeding down the ramp. Amy glared over at Rosa. “Well that’s not good.”

Rosa shook her head, watching the van stop abruptly at the water’s edge. Amy, without thinking too much, made a dash after the van. She was stopped by Matthew, making sure she didn’t get too close.

“Excuse me, ma’am, you can’t go through there, medical staff only.” He sneered, pushing her away by the shoulder.

“I’m NYPD, Torres, that is my detective there and my husband.”

“I don’t care who you are, you could be making this up for all I know,” Matthew cackled a laugh as Amy moved her gaze from the criminal in front of her to her husband lying unconscious in front of the water’s edge. “No unauthorized entry.”

She moved her eyes back up at Matthew. “You don’t spike me as a very professional criminal in my mind.”

“Yeah, well that’s what makes me so good at it, cop.” He whispered close to Amy’s face, making her spine shiver in disgust.

“When was the last time you brushed your teeth?” Amy glared at Torres. “Your breath is like a mix of shit and a little bit of vomit.”

Matthew backed away slightly. “You’re pushing your limits there, I’d watch out.”

Amy kept her eyes on Matthew, trying her hardest not to look at Rosa behind him. A small laugh escaped her lips as she brought her eyes to the floor, afraid she’d lose her secrecy.

“What you laughing at?” Matthew asked, glaring at her.

Without her answering, Torres fell to the floor, being knocked out cold by the stone Rosa had lightly thrown against it. A smile appeared wide on the detective’s face. “Oops, sorry, I appeared to have dropped my rock.” She joked down at the second unconscious body on the beach.

Amy let out a laugh before rushing to Jake’s side, grabbing his hand in hers, immediately intertwining their fingers.

A lifeguard looked down at the strange woman by Jake’s side who appeared out of nowhere. “Excuse me, you can’t be here.” He sighed, kneeling down next to Jake’s head.

“I know that, but I’m here anyway, or do you want to end up like the instructor?” Amy raised her eyebrow.

The lifeguard had a sudden look of panic fill his eyes as he stared at Matthew. “Ur.. no ma’am.”

“Well, I’d stop talking and make sure everything with my husband is okay.”

He quickly nodded. He placed two fingers against Jake’s neck and let out a small sigh. Amy’s eyes became wide with concern. “Okay, he’s got a slight pulse, but it’s not very strong.”

Amy ushered the lifeguard out of the way slightly. She knelt up above him and took in a deep breath. “Okay, life or death. Don’t make it a death, Peralta, don’t make it a death.” She whispered as she began beating her hands on his chest.

* * *

_“Ames, come on, it’s just a case. We do cases every day, how is this one any different?” Jake wondered, giving his wife a questioning look._

_“Jake, this is a dangerous case, and happens to also be life or death.” She crossed her arms across her chest._

_Jake pursed his lips. “You’re worried about me.” He raised his voice a little, putting on a cheeky smile._

_“I’m always worried about you.” Amy sighed._

_Jake gave out a little chuckle before noticing her stern gaze and realizing she was being serious._

_“I know what you’re like, Jake,” Amy added._

_Jake pulled her into a hug, kissing her gently on her forehead. “I promise you, Ames, I won’t do anything stupid. Charles would be there with me to keep me from doing something I would regret.” He rested his chin against her temple._

_“Really?”_

_Jake pushed her away slightly. He looked her in the eyes. “Promise.” A smile creeped across his face, making a subtle one appear on hers. He arched down and pressed a small kiss on her lips. A moment passed and she pushed him away with a little force. He raised his eyebrows at her._

_“Jake, you have got to promise that won’t be an empty promise. This is a life or death case, please don’t make it a death… again.”_

_Jake gave her a reassuring smile. “Ames, I double promise that my promise won’t be an empty promise.”_

_She let out a laugh. “No death, Peralta.” She spoke with a smile. “No death, I promise.”_

_Amy stood on her tiptoes and pressed her lips against his again._

* * *

“You promised, Jake,” she stopped to give him mouth-to-mouth. “No death, remember?” She began thumping hard on his chest again. “Double promised.” Her voice cracked as she tried to keep count of how many chest compressions she had left.

“Ma’am, why don’t you let us try?” The lifeguard sat opposite her asked, leaning in closer to her a little.

Amy stopped what she was doing and glared up at him. “No! I have to do this, it’s my fault, I have to fix this…” Tears began to stream down her cheeks as she put her focus back on Jake. Starting up the chest compressions again, she began to slowly give in as the tears started to fall like a waterfall. “C’mon Jake, please, you promised, you can’t, not now, I’m not letting you… come on…” she repeated the process. “Come on…”

“Amy, just let him do it, he’s had more practice.” Rosa stepped in, coming up behind her, attempting to pull her away.

“No, no, you can’t, I can do this…” She whimpered, hardly pushing into his chest at all.

“Santiago, come on, let him try.” She pulled her friend up and dragged her to the side.

Amy immediately fell into Rosa’s chest and began sobbing audibly into her jacket. The detective slowly put her hand on her back as she watched the lifeguards continue what Amy had already started. Charles came up from the side, wrapped in a towel to keep himself warm. He brought himself on the hug as well, wrapping his arms around Amy. He was noticeably tearing up too.

The loud coughs from behind them made Amy swiftly turn around. She left Charles and Rosa’s embrace and ran straight to Jake, pulling him in a tight hug.

“Ames… what-what’s going on?” Jake whispered in between coughs.

“You scared the fucking shit out of me, that’s what’s going on.” A small giggle escaped as she held on to him tighter.

Jake suddenly realized that Amy was hugging him, and he placed his arms around her. “But, what happened? … How did I get out here?” He wondered.

“You drowned buddy, the leash got tangled around your feet and you couldn’t stand up I guess,” Rosa spoke over, still hugging Charles. Or, to be exact, Charles was hugging her and she had enveloped into it.

“I said that leash would be the death of somebody…” Jake mumbled.

Amy let out a laugh before pressing her lips against Jake’s with a force. She kept it there for a moment before naturally parting away.

“Were you worried about me?” He smiled a cheeky grin.

“I always worry about you,” she kissed him again, this time with not so much of a force. “But don’t you ever do that to me again.” She lightly punched his shoulder.

“I won’t… I promise.” He smiled at her. He pointed over to Matthew still lying on the sand a few feet away. “Also, what happened to him?”

“Oh, Rosa conked him out cold about five minutes ago,” Amy responded, holding on tightly to Jake.

“Is he okay?” Jake questioned, raising his eyebrows.

“I hope to go he isn’t.” Rosa blurted. She looked around and saw everyone staring at her. “Did I say that out loud?” She wondered.

Jake and Amy both gave out a small laugh as the lifeguard was packing up his stuff next to them.

“Alright, I’m gonna call Holt back and say you’re okay,” Rosa mentioned, pulling her phone out her pocket. She grabbed a lifeguards attention as one walked past. “Oh, and you might wanna check that he’s not dead. If he’s not, lock him away, he’s done some bad things. If he is dead, it was the rock that killed him and not me… no eye witnesses can trace it to me.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Did you really think I'd kill off Jake? If you answered yes, then you were partially right, but after my brother attacked me, I decided to not touch that idea again... EVER!


	6. I May Have Killed a Guy

“Captain Holt speaking,” Raymond answered the phone on his desk to stop the irritating ring that came with it.

_“Hey, Captain, it’s Diaz.”_ Rosa’s voice came through the speaker.

“Ah, Detective, how’s the case going? Santiago seemed a little skeptical earlier when she called me.”

_“Ur… actually, not great, Captain.”_ It was clear to Holt that Rosa was obviously worried, or somewhat concerned about something.

“What is the matter, Diaz?” Holt asked, sitting forward in his chair slightly.

_“I’ve got a hysterical Charles near me, a panicked Amy a few feet away, a possible dead man, and the instructor is knocked out cold, he may also be dead. I don’t know what to do.”_

“I need to know what is going on, Detective.” Holt broke in, concerned on what was making Rosa Diaz - the badass of the precinct, the person who broke Hitchcock’s arm a year ago when he was being a pervert, the person who slammed a printer with an object used to break open door when it jammed, the person who put fear in everyone’s eyes – worried and asking for help.

_“It’s Jake, Captain…”_ She stopped and Holt sat further forward, resting his elbows on the wooden desk in front of him as he waited for her to continue – if she was to continue. It took a moment, but Rosa did add on some more information. _“He’s not responding to the CPR, no limb has moved and that’s not like him. He’s completely lifeless.”_ Holt sat in silence. His heart had sunk down a sinkhole pit that had formed in his chest. _“Amy’s trying her hardest, captain, but there’s nothing.”_ Rosa added in a whisper.

Holt swallowed the lump in his throat and sighed sadly. “Okay, detective, thank you for informing me about the situation.”

_“You didn’t tell me what to do.”_ Rosa’s voice alarmed him. She sounded scared and in dire need of it. In dire need of help.

Holt took a deep breath and closed his eyes, nodding a little. “Okay, but promise me one thing, detective.” Holt began.

_“Anything, captain, just please help.”_

“Promise to me that if anything happens, be there for Amy. Whatever the circumstances be, whatever she needs help with, help her.”

Rosa nodded. _“Okay, whatever. Sure.”_

Holt stared to the blank walls of his office. “Okay, keep Boyle calm. He needs you too right now. Comfort Amy. If somebody is there, a paramedic, a lifeguard, somebody useful, pull her away. This would be more traumatic to her if she couldn’t save her husband. Is somebody there?”

_“Yeah, a lifeguard.”_

“Okay, pull Santiago away-” He stopped.

Terry walked through into the office, knocking gently on the door. “Captain, I see that you are on the phone, but I have had to lock Gina in the briefing room because she is getting a little out of hand with Hitchcock.”

“Okay, Diaz, I have to go, precinct emergency. Pull Santiago away and comfort her. Let her know she isn’t alone.” He hung up the phone and stood from his desk. “Okay,” he tried to walk past Terry, who was now standing in the way of the door from the captain’s office out into the bullpen. “What are you doing, Sergeant? Move out of the way.”

Terry folded his arms across his chest. “What was the phone call with Rosa about?”

“It’s confidential, now move out of the way, that is an order.” He began to raise his voice.

“Sir, we’re dying for an update on this case. The only reason Gina flipped on Hitchcock was because she is worried about Jake. Please, sir, just one little bit.”

Holt sighed, moving to the side and gesturing for Terry to sit on one of the chairs in front of the desk. He shut the office door and sat opposite the sergeant. “Something has come up, and it is showing its own obstacles.” He told the other superior.

“What obstacles?”

“Detective Boyle is in hysterics, Santiago is freaking out and Diaz… well, Diaz is… worried.” He struggled toward the end. “Something is happening with Peralta as we speak and we are unsure of the possible outlooks. By what Rosa has told me, it does not seem good, so I must tell you now, do not hope for good news.”

Terry was struck with a shocked silence. He tried for several beats to put words together, but he struggled immensely. He stammered, but eventually a message came through, “What- what’s the sit- situation?”

“From all I know, Peralta is unconscious and unresponsive to the cardiopulmonary resuscitation that he is being given.”

“But he’s going to be okay, right? Right?” Terry’s voice went high.

Holt gave the same expression as always, but his tone changed from robotic to melancholy. “I’m sorry, sergeant, I really don’t know. We can stay optimistic, but I really don’t think this is going to pull through.”

Terry made a sad frown, looking to the floor of the office.

Holt stood from his chair. “I’m going to get Gina out from the briefing room, are you going to come with me? Or stay in here?”

“I’ll return to my desk.” Terry stood himself up and walked out of the office, returning back to his own desk on the other side of the bullpen.

Holt sighed and walked through the bullpen and across to the briefing room. He unlocked the door and Gina burst through.

“Oh, thank you, captain,” she sighed with relief. “Thought I would die in there.”

“You were only in there a few minutes, Gina.”

Gina stared up at Holt with a surprised look. “’kay, thanks anyway.”

He watched her walk back to her desk as he stood, wondering whether to inform her about the situation with Jake. He knew she was his oldest friend after all. But how would she react? Gina was Gina, a precious soul in her own words. But surely this would make her already odd behaviour even worse. He shook his head, choosing not to and walking back through into his office.

* * *

_“I did what you told me, captain. I managed to get Amy away and I hugged Charles for too long. Jake’s okay now, the lifeguard managed to get him back.”_ Holt felt a huge weight off his shoulders as he heard Rosa inform him of what went on. _“Torres is still unconscious, sir. I don’t think he’s waking up anytime soon.”_

“Are you saying you believe you have killed Torres?” Holt asked.

_“Maybe.”_

Holt let out a small laugh. Now that was the Rosa he knew. “How are Boyle and Santiago?”

_“Charles is fine, still a little caught up and I’ve never seen Amy run so fast.”_ Even through the phone, Holt could tell Rosa was letting out a small smile.

“Thank you for letting me know, Diaz.” They finished up the phone call, Rosa hanging up at the end. Holt spared no time, standing from his desk and walking out to the bullpen, calling Terry through to his office. He waited for the sergeant to sit on one of the chairs to sit down at his own desk chair. He leaned forward in his seat so his hands were resting against the desk. “That was Diaz on the phone.” Terry sat forward too, waiting to hear the rest. After a moment, the captain continued, “Peralta is fine.”

Terry sighed with relief, a large, beaming smile appearing ear-to-ear on his face. “That’s a huge relief, captain, I’ll tell you that.”

Holt nodded slightly, leaning back in his chair. “Yes, it is. Now we are to wait until they come back with Torres to interrogate.”

Terry nodded. “Thank you for telling me sir.” He stood up. “I should get back to work now.” Holt put his hand out, dismissing him from the office. Terry walked back out to the bullpen, leaving Holt sat in silence at his desk, a small smile appearing on his face.

* * *

“Can I get you anything, Jake-y?” Charles asked, crowding around his friend who was sat on the deck with a towel wrapped around his shoulders.

“How many times do I have to tell you? I’m fine.” Jake let out a small laugh.

Charles shook his head, sitting beside his friend. “No, you’re not, you almost drowned Jake, you’re not okay.”

“I’m fine now, just calm down just a smidge.”

Amy rushed around the corner, cutting Jake off from saying anything else. “Okay, don’t say anything to Rosa.” She instructed, sitting next to her husband.

“Why?” Charles questioned.

“She’s pissed right now.” The sergeant responded.

“Why?” The older detective repeated.

Rosa came around the corner, punching her fist into the wall they were all sat against. “Torres has disappeared.”

“What?” Jake and Charles exclaimed simultaneously.

“He’s gone. The lifeguard left him alone and he’s gone.”

Jake looked at Charles with a worried look, his friend giving him the same glare.

“Aww, shit,” Jake mumbled.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry! I'm just a sucker for cliffhangers! 
> 
> I might write a sequel... but I might just leave it like this. Really depends on what you guys would like.

**Author's Note:**

> Kudos and comments are gratefully appreciated! :) It keeps a writer going!


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